How to combat presentation anxiety

Most presenters possess more anxiety than fear when it comes to making presentations.

Here are three essential tips to help you combat anxiety in your next speech.

Get the blood flowing

If you are a fan of exercise, then go for a run or walk the day of your talk. Studies have proven that the benefits of exercise have a positive effect on the nerves, lasting up to 12 hours. If you know you enjoy the endorphin’s that come with exercise, make sure you perform your activity within 12 hours of your presentation.

Rehearse, don’t memorize

Practice will build your confidence and reduce your anxiety. However, there’s a difference between being well-rehearsed and coming across as memorized. Rehearsed implies that you are prepared, confident and can speak on the fly if needed. Memorized implies that you are dependent, lack confidence and are controlled by your talk, rather than you controlling it. Run through key phrases and points, but don’t memorize word by word.

Show appreciation

Ultimately, you want to get into a mindset of appreciation. If your audience knows you want to add value to their life, you will immediately feel a sense of ease because it will define your purpose and role in the presentation environment. Simply, if you can demonstrate that you care about your audi­ence, then they will be more likely to care about you. Perceived distance between the speaker and audience creates discomfort.